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Queen Dulcinea Gardner
Lady Dulcinea Gardner of Bregate was the daughter of Duke Duncan Gardner and the Duchess Alana Gardner née Rayne. She was a beautiful fair-haired maiden favored by the Bregatian court and pursued by many young lords. Whereas Princess Calanthe Arvendon was molded to be a ruler, Dulcinea far more resembled the classic image of a princess. Peredur Gower was a favorite bard of hers. When she returned to Noslith, she was a wizardess of a far darker and more serious countenance, trained in shadow magic by the Hags of Tor Bedivere. She found kinship and later love and marriage with Sir Elric Thrussell, becoming his Queen after the Fall of Agrawel. Dulcinea would bear his children, including the next King of Bregate and the Hinterlands, Elric VI. In 5E.1521, Dulcinea was kidnapped by Farquhar Thorne and taken to the Chapel of Dispater below the Thorne Estate in Bregate. The reasons for her kidnapping spanned beyond Farquhar's mistrust of Aeron Cyrill and Dulcinea's budding relationship, with other reasons including the Duke's refusal to continue sending souls to the Infernal Pact along with Tegwen's need of a maiden of royal blood to sacrifice to enter the Fell Archives in Ilfaine. The Heroes of Blackbridge arrived in Bregate not long after the maiden's disappearance to discover that Aeron Cyrill had disappeared as well.They learned from Baron Aidan Cyrill that Aeron Cyrill was a suitor of Dulcinea Gardner before her disappearance and a suitor of Lady Isolde Thorne before his own disappearance; he had pursued the daughter of Baron Trefor Thorne in spite of his father's warnings about her over-protective brother, Farquhar. The Heroes of Blackbridge hurried to Trefor's manor in Highcrest, learning that Trefor knew little of his son's activities; the aging man simply sent them to Farquhar's study. Within Farquhar's study, the adventurers discovered a circle that concealed a hole leading down into the depths of the estate, where a dungeon was connected to the Chapel of Dispater. Raiding the Infernal Pact cell, the adventurers slew Farquhar Thorne and rescued Aeron Cyrill but arrived too late to save Dulcinea. Before the Heroes' arrival, Tegwen had already taken Dulcinea to Ilfaine and entered the Fell Archives. The adventurers' failure to save Dulcinea and the horrors they witnessed within the Infernal Pact dungeon seemed to result in Peredur Gower's departure and the subsequent end of the Heroes of Blackbridge. Tegwen the Enchantress gave Dulcinea to the white dragon, Horrakis, who guarded the Fell Archives, saying nothing to the girl as she entered its halls. The last of Dulcinea's memories was being thrown into a void; the darkness wiped her memories and identity and left them to be molded anew by the hags of Bedivere Tor. They gave her the name Nimue; although she hated her life among the hags, they taught her much and she became a powerful wizard. Meanwhile, not far from Flaith, the Iron Regent had taken power in Hambor and soon found allies among the Court of Locusts. The Court of Locusts had learned of Nimue's presence and her true identity, and so soon nearby Ayles fell to the power of the Iron Regency. Under the light of a lunar eclipse, then, the Court of Locusts gave Viscount Malcolm Stenet and the gathered shards of Brionac to the Hags of Bedivere Tor; in return, they gave up Nimue to the tieflings. Nimue was soon released into the care of the Order of the Sons of Rhydderch, to assist Sir Elric Thrussell in his duties; Elric quickly realized the true identity of Nimue and befriended the wizardess, helping her to uncover her old memories and soon falling in love with each other. Dulcinea aided Elric in the Fall of Agrawel; afterwards, they were wedded, and had several children from their new seat of Fox Fortress. The union of their lines lead to the creation of a new title and a new kingdom: the Kingdom of Bregate and the Hinterlands.